Tigers get their groove back

STOCKTON - The Pacific women's volleyball team finally flashed the form that made it dominant in nonconference play against a Big West Conference opponent Saturday.

Jagdip Dhillon

STOCKTON - The Pacific women's volleyball team finally flashed the form that made it dominant in nonconference play against a Big West Conference opponent Saturday.

The Tigers found their missing groove against UC Riverside in their third Big West match, handling the Highlanders 25-23, 25-18, 25-20 in front of 710 at Spanos Center. Pacific (14-2, 2-1 Big West) lost its conference opener at UC Davis 3-1 and barely escaped with a five-game home victory over Cal State Fullerton on Friday.

Things came much easier against the Highlanders (5-12, 0-4) as the Tigers' block was formidable, their passing was crisp and they hit .259 as a team while holding UC Riverside to just .119. Junior middle blocker Jennifer Sanders tied a season-high 16 kills on a .600 hitting percentage.

"Everything felt a lot better as a team," Sanders said. "The difference was their offense was at the same speed as us, and it allowed us to block them easier. It gives us a lot of confidence."

Pacific coach Greg Gibbons again used both of his setters as senior Hannah Clancy provided 15 assists and seven digs, while freshman Kimmy Whitson had 18 assists and six blocks up front, nearly matching sophomore middle blocker Gillian Howard for the team lead at seven.

"Our biggest worry is how we're going to work the rotation out," Gibbons said. "We're trying to find individual strengths and trying to add to this team, so we'll keep working at it. The effort level was great, but we have a ways to go before we're playing our best volleyball."

Whitson again provided energy in her second match of extended action and said the scouting report on the Highlanders proved to be correct.

"We were making sure we staying inside on them and lining up on their hitting shoulders to get good blocks, and that was the key for us," Whitson said.

Senior Amanda Vialpando led UC Riverside with 15 kills in 42 attempts, while also getting 10 digs. She was supported by Ashley Cox, who had 12 kills and 10 digs, but hit just. 103.

Pacific had a balanced attack behind Sanders, with junior outside hitter Megan Birch (nine kills, .250 hitting) and senior captain Gabby Cowden (eight kills, .304) playing well. Freshman opposite Kat Schulz had just three kills, but did have nine digs, two blocks and two aces.

Gibbons said he noticed how focused his team was during the walk-through in the afternoon, crediting that to Friday's five-game comeback win.

"You build confidence with W's," Gibbons said. "It's a lot easier to play with confidence when you get a win at the end of a tough, long match."